Dental forceps



Nov. 17, 1959 R. o. CHRISTENSEN DENTAL FORCEPS Filed Feb. 21, 1957 United States Patent DENTAL FORCEPS Ralph 0. Christensen, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application February 21, 1957, Serial No. 641,706

1 Claim. (Cl. 32-62) This invention relates generally to dental forceps and particularly to a forceps designed to produce extremely large gripping force with a minimum of force applied to the operating handles thereof.

While the dental forceps disclosed and claimed in my prior United States Patent No. 2,563,920, issued August 14, 1951, has proved to be relatively successful, I have found that the herein disclosed structure has improved properties and is considerably more durable.

It is an object of my present invention to provide dental forceps which are of relatively simple construction and can be easily designed to produce long wearing and highly efficient gripping properties.

It is another object to provide dental forceps wherein relatively large gripping force multiplication is obtained with a minimum of pivotal connections between the parts thereof.

It is still a further object to provide a dental forceps specifically designed to produce large gripping forces while providing three pivotal connections between the parts thereof, two being fixed pivots and the other being a pivot arranged for generally longitudinal rectilinear shifting movement.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following description, made in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my new forceps;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view thereof with portions broken away to show in vertical section;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 4, and 6 are transverse sectional views taken respectively along the lines 4-4, 5-5 and 66 of Fig. 1.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawing, I provide a dental forceps having a pair of handle members 9 and 10. A pivot pin 11 pivotally interconnects said two handle members 9 and by extending through a saddle structure forming a pair of spaced apart attachment portions 12a and 12b as best shown in Figs. 3 through 6 inclusive. A jaw 13 is fixed to the forward end of the handle 9 as by being integrally formed therewith and the saddle or yoke 12 extends forwardly of the pivot 11. A second jaw member 14 has the gripping portion thereof disposed in opposed relation to the gripping portion of the jaw 13 and pivot pin 15 extending through the saddle 12 pivotally interconnects the same to the jaw 13. A portion of the jaw member 14 extends rearwardly of the pivot 15 as best shown in Fig. 2 and overlaps the forwardly extending portion 10a of the handle 10. One

ICC

of said overlapped portions has an elongated slot such as the slot 14a formed in the rear portion of the jaw 14 and the other overlapped element has a pin 10b of substantially the same diameter as the width of said slot to permit relative rectilinear movement between said overlapped portions. The slot 14a extends generally longitudinally of the jaw member and handle member 10 as best shown in Fig. 2.

The gripping portion of the jaws 13 and 14' is shaped to fit the outside contour of the tooth to be extracted to insure positive gripping of the tooth. It is obvious that the relatively short lever arm between the pivot pins 11 and 10b greatly multiplies the force exerted on the jaw 14. Obviously, it is desirable that all of the pivotal connections be relatively tight and free from play surrounding the same including the fit of the pin 10b within the elongated slot 14a. This permits smooth and positive operation of the forceps and facilitates gripping of the tooth between the two jaw members.

While the form of the invention illustrated shows the elongated slot provided in connection with the intermediately disposed pivot, any one of the three pivots could be provided with means permitting relative rectilinear movement between the parts interconnected thereby. Obviously, the opposed portions 12a and 12b of the saddle 12 form guides between which the swingable portions of the jaw 14 and handle portion 10a move and positively positions the pivot pins to produce an extremely durable and highly stable forceps structure. The three pivotal connections arranged in generally longitudinally spaced apart relation positively interconnect the actuating portions of the forceps and permit relatively large gripping forces to be exerted and maintained thereby.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of my invention which consists of the matter shown and described herein and set forth in the appended claim.

What I claim is:

Dental forceps comprising an elongated lever with a handle formed on one end thereof and a jaw member formed on the other end thereof, a mounting saddle having a pair of spaced apart parallel guide elements formed in closely spaced relation to the jaw member of said lever, a pair of longitudinally spaced apart pivot pins extending between said spaced apart saddle elements and respectively forming forward and rear pivots, a second jaw member having an intermediate portion thereof pivoted on the forward pivot pin and providing a rearwardly extending actuated portion, a second handle pivoted on the rear pivot pin in spaced relation to the forward end thereof, and a pivot pm directly connecting the forwardly extending portion of the second handle member and the rearwardly extending actuated portion of the second jaw mem her, the guiding elements of said saddle engaging in close fitting relation the pivoted portions of the second handle member and the second jaw member to provide lateral stability therefore during operation of the forceps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 8,351 Burch Sept. 9, 1851 1,874,944 Fabian Aug. 30, 1932 2,563,920 Christensen Aug. 14, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 24,166 Great Britain 1909 

